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    LordBurleighHamilton Nolan
    2/04/15 9:54am

    This is what E. P. Thompson called the immiseration of the working class: theoretically, we all have it better than ever economically, but various forces conspire to make everybody except the upper class stressed, miserable, and desperate. Just some statistical evidence that free-market capitalism is destructive to everyone except a tiny sliver of those on top—or, as I prefer to think of it, on bottom.

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      Paul DimitrovLordBurleigh
      2/04/15 10:27am

      Don't we deserve immiseration, though?

      I mean, what else would provide the stimulus needed to motivate lowly proles into the leisure class?

      Certainly in this meritocratic utopia we live in, where each rises based ONLY on his/her merit and drive, there is no other possible motivating factor than discomfort, worry, and stress?

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      benjaminalloverLordBurleigh
      2/04/15 10:31am

      There are a lot of goods that we're each expected to buy and pay for individually now that we didn't stress ourselves to pay for 2 generations ago; every man woman and child has their own private technology, and children can't be denied these expensive toys lest they be left behind. Child-care costs are through the roof because we don't live in multi-generation households any more, and because we need two incomes at all times to pay our credit card debt on all our stuff. We need a car for every wage earner too, since public transport infrastructure has lost to private car traffic. Folks buy their very expensive food prepared in packages because they don't have the time to cook. Television used to cost... the price of a television, not 10 times the price of a television per year for content. Vacations used to consist of domestic road trips, no insurance required. College used to be something you could pay for by saving up just 4 years of money earned from a high school job. Oh right: there were jobs available for high school students. Grandparents would live in the Granny Flat off the back of the house, not an expensive retirement home. Generally, middle class incomes paid for middle class lifestyles without debt. That was how our grandparents lived.

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    GirlinDCHamilton Nolan
    2/04/15 9:59am

    Wow this is timely. I was just talking to Personnel about my maternity leave for this summer. I'll have two whole weeks of paid leave accrued. I had to email my husband to see if we can financially deal with me not having a paycheck for the remaining 10 weeks. Just found out our daycare doesn't offer priority to siblings, so we'll have to be on a wait list to get in even though our 18 month old is already there, and now I'm scrambling to find back ups. And we just bought our first home so we have a mortgage now. YAY.

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      gregisaraddudeGirlinDC
      2/04/15 10:34am

      this is exactly why I have lost all desire to get married or have children. It's hard enough to make ends meet without having the responsibility of a child's life added to that.

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      #NotAllYzermanGirlinDC
      2/04/15 10:36am

      You know, birth control is only, like, $50 a month.

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    Jennifer C. MartinHamilton Nolan
    2/04/15 9:52am

    Although women, parents, and young people are more stressed than everyone else.

    I fit into all three categories! YAY WINNER! Good thing I had kids young so I can get nestled into my life of poverty right off the bat!

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      benjaminalloverJennifer C. Martin
      2/04/15 10:09am

      Well think of it this way; kids are not getting any cheaper, so you're raising yours at a discount compared to your agemates who wait another 10 years.

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      Jennifer C. Martinbenjaminallover
      2/04/15 10:58am

      we just have to hope the trend of "living at home until you're 30" dies out in the next 16 years

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    AFSHamilton Nolan
    2/04/15 9:59am

    The $50,000 thing is so meaningless when it's just attached to "household". I'm a single person earning around that much, and I wouldn't have considered myself a "low income household".

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      ThisCharmlessManAFS
      2/04/15 10:13am

      I think it's supposed to be $50K per [mom, dad & two kids] household.

      Which still seems a bit high to be 'low income'.

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      AFSThisCharmlessMan
      2/04/15 12:10pm

      $50,000 for 4 people? Eesh. That is definitely low income.

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    Donald PumpHamilton Nolan
    2/04/15 10:28am

    It took me about 7 years of post-college work life until I realized the only thing I was stressed about was money. I have a good job, but I was still stressed for some reason. This year I started living *way* below my means, at least in terms of rent. I've never been so stress free now.

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      senorfrogDonald Pump
      2/04/15 11:55am

      I think that's the key to a lot of these stressed out people. What are they stressed about not being able to afford? Food, shelter, clothing? No. Many of them are stressed because they bought iphone 6's, leased luxury cars, and pay rent on apartments they can't afford, then something happens and there's no money left.

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      Donald Pumpsenorfrog
      2/04/15 1:56pm

      No doubt. Consumerism keeps people paranoid.

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    IAMBlastedBiggsLostBurnerHamilton Nolan
    2/04/15 10:01am

    The continued measurement of 'stress' in our current state is little more than validation for feeling like shit most of our collective waking hours. It's become harder than ever to simply maintain something close to a stable economic state, and actually aspiring for more is akin to actually wishing on a spherical object somewhere in the distant universe, which has no investment at all in our wish fulfillment. The system is in place to keep us constantly on-edge, uncomfortable, and worried about the shit we'll have to deal with right around the corner. And when you add kids to the mix? Fuck all! Worrying about what lies out there for them is a waking nightmare!

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      AFSHamilton Nolan
      2/04/15 9:54am

      I thought this was one of the resident artist's illustrations.

      I complimented a Shutterstock image. I am a fool.

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        TheDataHamilton Nolan
        2/04/15 10:21am

        HAMNO, for christ's sake.

        A drop from 6.2 to 4.9 is only a 21% drop.

        We're only marginally less stressed.

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          bonertownparade4Hamilton Nolan
          2/04/15 9:54am

          Of course young people are stressed about money. They have to pay off a shitload of student loans.

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            Not Her Real Name CathyHamilton Nolan
            2/04/15 12:26pm

            This reminds me of an excellent article I read in Salon the other day called "Has America Gone Crazy?" Here's a passage that especially stood out to me:

            "In all the Nordic countries, there is broad general agreement across the political spectrum that only when people's basic needs are met — when they can cease to worry about their jobs, their incomes, their housing, their transportation, their health care, their kids' education, and their aging parents — only then can they be free to do as they like. While the U.S. settles for the fantasy that, from birth, every kid has an equal shot at the American dream, Nordic social welfare systems lay the foundations for a more authentic equality and individualism."

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